Get Ready for the Grand Canyon Theme Park and Convention Center!

Since the public lands of the United States belong to all of us, what say we see what the various greedy gombeens of our political and economic elites have been up to on our land?

Oh, let's start here, where the Bozeman Daily Chronicle has alerted us to the fact that there are members of the House of Representatives who are anxious to give us the General Goods Glacier National Park. Or something.

Take the Antiquities Act, for instance. For 110 years, presidents of both parties have used the law to designate national monuments and protect our shared heritage. This law has been wildly successful for protecting natural and historic places including many important waterways and fishing grounds. Over the past several years, anti-conservation voices in Congress, led by Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah, have sought to gut the Antiquities Act and prevent presidents from protecting our public lands and heritage. This is almost unbelievable considering that Americans of all stripes support protecting these places. In addition, our public lands support a $650 billion outdoor recreation industry that includes fishing on our nation's rivers, streams, lakes and oceans. In addition to attacks on the Antiquities Act, public lands critics in Congress are also pushing to privatize, sell off and transfer to states our shared national lands. This is an antithesis to our democracy. Proponents of transferring our shared public lands to the states often argue that these lands will still be protected. However, the reality is different as states often do not have the administrative capacity or budget to manage these lands at the same level of protection offered by the federal government. It is for this reason AFFTA recommends these lands remain in the hands of all Americans, rather than in the hands of individual states or private interests.

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Keep an eye on Bishop. He just tried a neat trick with the help of Paul Ryan, the zombie-eyed granny-starver from the state of Wisconsin and first runner-up in our most recent vice-presidential pageant. The Congress managed to reach a "bipartisan deal"—grab your wallets, immediately—regarding the economic crisis in Puerto Rico. Bishop was behind a proposal to turn federal lands on the island of Vieques over to Puerto Rico, which is exactly what he wants to do in Utah with, say, Zion National Park. The Democrats working on the bill spotted this, however, and stripped that provision from the relief package Bishop was pitching. If you're wondering what Bishop's true feelings are, here's a little video for your edification.

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Yes, he does say the Antiquities Act is more "evil" than, say, the Fugitive Slave Act. He was the chairman of the House Natural Resources committee when he said it. Thanks, America.

Meanwhile, the good folks at DeSmog Blog have hipped us to some shenanigans afoot regarding the upcoming auction of the right to explore for fossil fuels on the public lands. A representative from something called the Interstate Oil and Gas compact commission pronounced herself weary of how the public, which owns the land, keeps getting in the way of the various pits, gouges, and despoliations that make her bosses rich.

So Western Energy Alliance is planning some counter-efforts with Keep It In The Ground which we'll be announcing probably later this month. We've also been working with BLM and Congress to say 'Let's just get rid of this circus, let's just have online auctions. eBay is out there, it can be done.' So BLM has also expressed concern for its employees as well. In fact, BLM Director [Neil] Kornze, in a hearing a couple months ago, was asked about all of these protests and even equated these protests with the militia who shut down and occupied the Malheur Wildlife Reserve in Oregon. So BLM is likewise concerned about the safety of its employees and it put in place security measures at last week's auction. But, what we're saying and what a lot of people are saying is, 'Let's just get rid of the circus. Let's do online auctions.' So hopefully BLM is compelled even more after Thursday to move in that direction.

Pardon me, but working with whom?

I consulted with Blog Director of Research Dr. Google and we agreed that the representative of the WEA probably found her material in the archives of legendary scientist Dr. Otto Yerass. The extraction industry and its various front groups have been working overtime to demonize the Keep It In The Ground movement, which did indeed cause a postponement of a land-use auction in Utah. (Here's a bit of propaganda from the WEA itself. You will note that the release pretty much wins at wingnut Bingo. Soros!) What the WEA rep is referring to is a House Oversight committee hearing into what happened at the Utah sale. Here's the video; the salient moment comes at about the 54:30 mark.

Congresswoman Sherry Lummis asks Kornze if allowing protestors into the sale was "abnormal." Kornze replies that, hell, the BLM has had a pretty abnormal year, what with gun-toting lunatics drawing down on BLM personnel and taking over bird sanctuaries. You have to stretch pretty far to say he was "equating" the Keep It In The Ground people with the Bundy Bund. But those are the gymnastics required of you if your livelihood depends on razing the common wilderness.